METRO DIGEST

Published: June 6, 1995

CRASH ON THE SUBWAY: ONE TRAIN SLAMS INTO ANOTHER ON BRIDGE

A Manhattan-bound subway train driven by a motorman on his final run of an overnight shift slammed into the rear of another train stopped on the Williamsburg Bridge, killing the motorman, injuring more than 50 passengers and crumpling tons of steel like so much wadded paper. [ Page A1. ]

They were the dawn patrol, the early risers from Brooklyn and Queens who turn on the lights, open the mailrooms and do the grunt work of the Manhattan law offices and brokerage houses and restaurants. [ B4. ]

People called out, asking for help; asking, with tears and a deadly seriousness, if the bridge was going to tumble into the East River. [ B4. ]

Facing the fourth major subway crash in less than four years, Transit Authority officials and Federal investigators said they would conduct a broad inquiry into the safety of the New York City subway system but would focus especially on the 75-year-old signal system. [ B5. ]

To one fellow worker, Layton Gibson was a motorman who could be counted on to "hit the board," or bring the train to a stop so it was perfectly aligned with the platform. [ B5. ] NEW YORK CITY VETERANS FIGHT TO PEDDLE IN MIDTOWN

Robert Smith, a World War II veteran, remembers making hundreds of dollars a day selling clothing on Fifth Avenue. But lucrative Fifth Avenue is off-limits to him, and merchants would prefer to keep it that way. Now an escalating war is being waged over control of the city's most famous sidewalks. [ B3. ] JUDGE PUTS POLICE PANEL IN CITY HANDS

The dispute between Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and the City Council over how to monitor police corruption moved to State Supreme Court as the two sides argued before a judge who ultimately urged them to try again to resolve their differences. [ B3. ] WOMAN TELLS OF WEEKS HELD IN BROTHEL

A young Thai woman said that Federal prison was "a lovely place" compared with the Chinatown brothel where she and 30 other women had been virtually imprisoned. [ B2. ] REGION F.D.R.'S ICEBOAT MAY SAIL AGAIN

The Icicle, a century-old, 48-foot-long iceboat that once outpaced express trains as it hissed along the frozen Hudson for the Roosevelts of Hyde Park, may sail once again. [ B6. ] AN EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE DEMOCRATS

For the second time in as many years, John L. Kucek, a Holocaust revisionist, has embarrassed the Democratic Party in New Jersey by getting his name on the primary election ballot unopposed. [ B6. ] PENSION FUND INQUIRY UNDER WAY

The Whitman administration is keeping a lid on reports that the Internal Revenue Service is poised to demand that New Jersey pay back nearly $800 million in pension funds used by Gov. Jim Florio to pay for a sales tax cut. [ B5. ] PRESERVATIONISTS FEAR FOR PARKWAY

The Bronx River Parkway, whose graceful turns and arched stone bridges keep traffic moving through central Westchester County at a Model-T pace, has been designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the 11 most endangered historic spots in the country. [ B2. ] Chronicle B2 Traffic Alert B4 Our Towns by Evelyn Nieves B6

Graph: "PULSE: Changing Job Market" shows jobs gained and lost in New York City in the first quarter of this year. (Source: New York City Comptroller's Office)